3rd Party Stuff

Green Party candidate Jill Stein and her vice presidential running mate Cheri Honkala were arrested at the Hofstra University debate site on Tuesday as they protested their exclusion from the second presidential debate. According to Stein’s campaign manager Ben Manski, they were jailed for disorderly conduct around 3 p.m.  when they were blocked by police officers as they attempted to enter the debate hall. Manski said that it was unclear when they would be released, but they could remain jailed until midnight. The Nassau County Police Department said that it was unclear when Stein and Honkala might be released.

“The arrest was outrageous and shouldn’t be tolerated in a country that is a leading proponent of democracy,” Manski told ABC News. “They knew that there was the possibility that they would be arrested. Their intention was to enter the premises and bear witness to the mockery of democracy that is tonight’s debate,” he said. The Green Party has long complained that the Commission on Presidential Debates attempts to “rig elections” in favor of the two major political parties by excluding third party candidates from debates. Stein and Honkala also planned protests at the first presidential debate in Denver.

            This unorthodox demonstration raises the question of whether or not 3rd party political groups deserve more media attention. All we hear in the news is “Democrats this, Republicans that”. This biased coverage makes us more narrow-minded and almost forces us to conform to this two-party political oligarchy. Americans are a diverse group of people whose needs cannot possibly fall under just the Democratic Party or the GOP, yet we always vote blue or red in every election. If the media were to expand its coverage to other parties then perhaps things would change. Perhaps people will begin to realize that there is a 3rd party out there whose views considerably coincide with their own. Look at where the Democrats and Republicans have got us so far and make your own decision.